Sunday, August 2, 2009

The bread of Life; to believe in the Son of God...And they said, "This man is the son of Joseph, isn't he?We know his father and mother. How can he say that he has come from heaven?"...

(Jn 6:24-35)

This man is the son of Joseph(v.42). Jesus' listeners were Jews who believed in God and the Scriptures. To believe in the prophets who were honored after their death was easy; but to recognize God's contemporary and controversial messengers, especially when the messengerof God was as simple carpenter was another matter. This is equally true today,for we must overcome doubts and listen to God's messengers who point out the mission ofthe Church in today's world. There are many who believe in the Bible or Christ but refuse tolisten to the Church, especially when it speaks through Christians and religious belonging to the world of the poor and of workers.- Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition/

And here is a quote from G.K. Chesterton:

"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid. "

from his First Apology

...And this food is called among us Eukaristia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them...